Apparatus and method for cleaning a substrate

This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0106720, filed on Oct. 23, 2007, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The inventive concept disclosed herein relates to apparatuses and methods for manufacturing integrated circuits, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for cleaning a substrate.

Various processes such as a deposition process, a photolithography process and an etching process are used to manufacture a semiconductor device. After each process is finished, a cleaning process is performed to remove unnecessary layers, foreign substances and particles which undesirably remain on a substrate.

Generally, a cleaning process includes a chemical solution treatment process, a rinsing process and a drying process. In the chemical solution treatment process, a chemical solution such as hydrofluoric acid, sulphuric acid and nitric acid is supplied to a substrate to remove foreign substances. In the rinsing process, a cleaning liquid such as deionized water is supplied to the substrate to remove any chemical solution that remains on the substrate. The drying process is a process for removing any of the cleaning liquid that remains on the substrate after the rinsing process.

FIG. 1 shows defects in a gate pattern formed on a substrate. Referring to FIG. 1, when a substrate is treated using a chemical solution, a particle 26 may remain on the substrate. As subsequent layers are deposited on the substrate, defects 28, having a protruded shape on each layer, can occur. Further, a foreign substance 27 may strongly adhere to a substrate, and thus not be removed during a cleaning process. Because a gate pattern is formed by sequentially depositing a number of layers, defects such as these may occur frequently and in a large scale on the layers of the gate pattern. Consequently, such defects can lead to complete failure of devices associated with the gate pattern.

An embodiment of the present inventive concept provides an apparatus for cleaning a substrate. The substrate cleaning apparatus comprises a spin head to support a substrate, a first cleaning unit to clean the substrate disposed on the spin head using a polishing process, and a second cleaning unit to clean the substrate disposed on the spin head by injecting a treating solution onto the substrate. The first cleaning unit comprises a support bar and a polishing pad that surrounds an outside of the support bar and is combined with the support bar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures are included to provide a further understanding of the present inventive concept, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the present inventive concept. In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a drawing showing defects that are not removed when a conventional cleaning process is performed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a substrate cleaning apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present inventive concept.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross section view of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present inventive concept.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are a longitudinal cross section view and a top plan view of a substrate cleaning apparatus, respectively, according to an embodiment of the present inventive concept.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a longitudinal cross section view and a top plan view of a substrate cleaning apparatus, respectively, according to an embodiment of the present inventive concept.

FIG. 9 is a drawing showing a substrate including a gate pattern.

FIGS. 10A to 10C illustrate a substrate cleaning process using the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are longitudinal cross section views of a substrate cleaning apparatus in accordance with other embodiments of the present inventive concept.

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